A Parliamentary petition calling for a public inquiry into the allegations raised by Tommy Robinson in the Panodrama documentary has been rejected by the body that decides on which petitions are accepted as the government is “not responsible for the BBC”

The text of the petition, proposed by Policalite Editor-In-Chief Darrell Goodliffe, read:

In a recent documentary entitled Panodrama a number of disturbing allegations were brought to light regarding the journalistic practices of the BBC and a charity called Hope Not Hate.

We the undersigned call upon the Secretary of State for Digital Media And Sport (Matthew Hancock MP) along with Ofcom and the Charities Commission to establish through the means of a public inquiry the veracity of these allegations and amend public policy according to the conclusion drawn.

However, it was rejected on the grounds that:

It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not responsible for.

The news follows Tommy’s ejection from Facebook and yesterday Labours Tom Watson called yesterday for YouTube to ban Tommy. The establishment is clearly ramping up its campaign against Tommy and his supporters while continuing to turn a tin-ear to the issues he is raising.

1 Comment

Norah

March 4, 2019 at 17:20

The government cannot refuse on these grounds as the licence is a tax. January 2006, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) changed the classification of the licence fee from a service charge to a tax.[12] Explaining the change the ONS said: “in line with the definition of a tax, the licence fee is a compulsory payment which is not paid solely for access to BBC services. A licence is required to receive ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, satellite, or cable”. A briefing paper from the House of Commons Library described the licence fee as a hypothecated tax (i.e. one raised for a particular defined purpose).[13]

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